Washington, D.C. - The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 JPBM Communications Awards. The first award goes to John Bailer, Richard Campbell, and Rosemary Pennington. The second award goes to Erica Klarreich.

JPBM Communications Award

This award was established by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) in 1988 to reward and encourage communicators who, on a sustained basis, bring mathematical ideas and information to nonmathematical audiences. JPBM is a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the American Statistical Association, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

John Bailer, Richard Campbell, and Rosemary Pennington

The engaging, entertaining, and enlightening Stats+Stories podcast has brought “the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics” to public radio and a broad podcast audience for over six years. John Bailer said, “I am deeply honored and delighted to be a recipient of this award.” Richard Campbell said, “It has been an absolute pleasure working with our team on Stats+Stories.” Rosemary Pennington noted that “Hearing our guests tell the stories of their research, field, or methodology has made a subject that, in my youth, felt very abstract feel very accessible.”

Erica Klarreich

Klarreich has been writing about mathematics and science for a popular audience for more than twenty years. She has written hundreds of articles for a wide range of publications and has been syndicated in many popular magazines. Klarreich said, “It is a great honor to join the ranks of the previous recipients of this prize, whom I deeply admire. It has been my privilege to tell the stories of mathematics over the past two decades, and I look forward to the stories the coming years will bring.”

“One of the pleasures of being a part of JPBM is the opportunity to learn more about high-quality mathematical communication,” said Michael Pearson, executive director of the MAA. “Honoring these accomplished individuals is an added privilege.”